Bendigo police nab string of dangerous drivers

A P-plater travelling at 173km/h on the Calder Highway and a drunk driver more than three times the legal limit were two of a string of dangerous drivers nabbed by Bendigo police on Saturday.

Leading Senior Constable Pat Allan said the probationary driver, a 20-year-old from Swan Hill with less than a year’s solo driving experience, was caught speeding along the Calder Highway at Faraday about 6.45pm.

Police clocked him travelling at 173km/h in the 110km/h zone.

Leading Senior Constable Allan said the man was charged with dangerous driving and had his car impounded for a month.

“If he’s convicted he will lose his licence for more than 12 months,” he said.

A drunk driver almost four times over the legal limit was intercepted by Bendigo police on Saturday morning.

The French national was caught on High Street, Bendigo leaving a fast-food restaurant at 3.15am.

A breath test showed the man had a blood alcohol level of .161. He received a summons to appear in court at a later date.

A second drink driver received more than $1400 in fines after being caught driving over the limit, not wearing a seatbelt and in an unregistered car.

Sergeant Geoff Annand said the 34-year-old Eaglehawk woman was pulled over by police on Sandhurst Road about 12.25pm when they noticed she wasn’t wearing a seatbelt.

A breath test showed the woman had a blood alcohol level of 0.084.

Sergeant Annand said the woman had stopped drinking at 3am and thought she was all right to get behind the wheel.

“It’s a lesson hard learnt that if you drink a lot of alcohol it takes a while for it to get out of your system,” he said.

Also on Saturday, four people had their licences suspended after being caught driving more than 25km over the speed limit along the Calder Highway.

A 25-year-old Yarraville man was clocked at 136km/h in the 110km/h zone near Malmsbury. He was unlicensed and received a summons to court.

A P-plater from Pascoe Vale was caught travelling at 146km/h along the same stretch of road. The 20-year-old received a $458 fine, four demerit points and a one-month licence suspension.

The same punishment was levelled at a 35-year-old Bulleen man clocked at 132km/h in the 100km/h zone at Big Hill.

And a 37-year-old Long Gully woman was caught 28km/h over the speed limit in the 80km/h zone at Big Hill.

She was issued with a $387 fine, four demerit points and will be off the road for one month.

All four were nabbed as part of Operation Saturate.

Sergeant Annand said two additional police officers had been working in the Bendigo area targeting 100 and 110 km/h zones where most of the region’s serious injury and fatal collisions took place.

He said he was glad police had been in the right place to catch problem drivers and take them off the roads.

“To lose your licence even for a month is a lesson hard learnt,” he said.